Eastern Squirrel

I have been interested in keeping squirrels for some time now, but have never worked with them. I have had several interactions with squirrels in the past.
I'm just looking for some advice on the keeping of Eastern Squirrels. I live in Ky and would be housing them in my home. My city and county have no laws regarding them. I've considered just calling fish and wildlife to ask them and that will be my next step if I can't find the answer.

Here's why I'm interested in keeping them.

1) When I was young(about 5-10 y.o.) I spent most of my childhood with my Grandparents. They lived in town at the time and had squirrels running all over the neighborhood. The squirrels would come up to their porch and eat nuts out of our hands and sometimes allow themselves to be coaxed onto your lap while they are eating.

2) My Grandma now lives in the country by herself and has lived that way for some time. She gets wild Turkey, Deer, Squirrels and any small animals you would find in Ky. The squirrels, though, come up to her door and scratch the door when they run out of bird feed. She will open the door and they will take off, but return when she fills the birdfeeders.

3) In Jan I was at the Cincinnati Zoo. They have an eating area where many people sit and eat during the summer. There were few people there that day(it was cold) and a squirrel came up to me. I put my hand down and made a clicking/calling noise kinda how you would call a cat or dog. It came up to me and bumped it's nose on my hand until it realized I had no food to give him. He didn't take off until my 4 y.o. came over and chased him off. He wouldn't let me pet him and was quite flighty/insecure.

4)My parents live in town, but with a lot of wooded property, and they have a melanistic(entirely black, and very dark) squirrel that runs around their property and has for several years that they have noticed. I have heard of albinos as well, but have never seen one in person.

With what I have seen now with wild squirrels, it's shows me that they are way more capable of inteligence than the credit they are given. I would like to work with raising a couple of young Easterns(captive born of course) and working with them and keeping as pets.

I'm pretty much just looking for any input anyone may have about them. I may consider purchasing one or two once I determine I can legally own them. I know Ky has laws regarding capturing and/or selling native animals. I have no intention to catch one for a pet let alone buying/selling a wc native animal.

What would they eat in captivitly?

Lifespan?

Caging size?

Should they have climbing in their cage since they are tree dwellers or is a similar setup designed for rats enough.

Wheels?

Should I let my young daughter interact with them if I had them(She's 4)? I do allow her to work with my Rats and Degus and harmless snakes(mainly corns) that are tame as can be. She's very ggod with animals and never has hurt any animals I have ever let her pet or hold. She even has a Degu in a cage in her room that she feeds and waters daily. She has never been bit, but I do explain to her that it will hurt and she may bleed if she gets bit. I actually tell her that anything with a mouth can bite.

Or anything else relavent to them.

Thanks,

Jacob

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

What would they eat in captivitly?

Mainly nuts (still in shell, NOT shelled and salted), seeds and pine (as well as other conifer) cones. A small amount of fruits and bugs.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Lifespan?

In captivity, I would expect 5+years.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Caging size?

As large as you can accommodate. I would not use any less than 6 feet high by 6-8ft long. You will want to make it large enough to have large branches that they can climb and jump to and from. Even though you are wanting captive squirrels, if you are keeping them caged, you need to provide them with plenty of stimulus in the form of encouraging their natural behavior. Ideally, I would provide them with an entire room. Doing so would allow you to scatter and hide their food so that they can forage more naturally.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Should they have climbing in their cage since they are tree dwellers or is a similar setup designed for rats enough.

I would definitely provide plenty of opportunity for climbing and jumping.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Wheels?

I suppose you could try an extra large silent spinner or comfort wheel. I have no idea if they would use it or not though.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Should I let my young daughter interact with them if I had them(She's 4)? I do allow her to work with my Rats and Degus and harmless snakes(mainly corns) that are tame as can be. She's very ggod with animals and never has hurt any animals I have ever let her pet or hold. She even has a Degu in a cage in her room that she feeds and waters daily. She has never been bit, but I do explain to her that it will hurt and she may bleed if she gets bit. I actually tell her that anything with a mouth can bite.

I would be VERY careful with this. I suppose if, after a few months, you determine they are docile enough to be comfortable with it, that it would be okay, but as with other rodents, they do have very large teeth that especially on a child, could easily bite down to the bone.

Originally Posted by IMAJACOBIAN

Or anything else relavent to them.

Please ensure you have a vet that is knowledgeable and willing to see them BEFORE you purchase them.

Thanks for the info.

That's a big help actually. The biggest thing for me would be large proper housing. Definately sounds like I need to investigate further before I make a decision. Very good info to know.

Does anybody know the laws regarding the ownership on a federal and/or ky state level?

Thanks,

Jacob

I did a quick search, and found info on minimum cage size requirement:

(f) A gray squirrel, fox squirrel, or flying squirrel shall be held in an enclosure with the following minimum specifications:

1. A single animal enclosure shall be 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 8 ft.; and

2. There shall be an increase in floor space by two (2) square feet for each additional animal.

http://www.animallaw.info/administra...kyadc2_081.htm

Sounds like there are permits involved. You really should contact your state fish and game department for the most correct information that will keep you out of trouble. They're the ones who enforce the laws, they will know what you need to do.

I'm going to go ahead and contact fish and wildwife to see what they say. I will let you guys know what they say. Hopefully I can own one sometime in the future. Even if it's not right away, it would be a very interesting species to keep.

Jacob

I called F & W and they answered the phone right away and was actually quite pleasant to talk to about this.

1) To own 1 or more of them privately as pets and non-commercially, I need a $75 permit that is good for 3 years.

2) To own them for propagation purposes, I must purchase a commercial permit that is renewable year and a little more money, but obtainable. He said I may have to get a permit from the USDA for propagation purposes as well.

3) I can keep them in my residence as long as my local laws are ok with it(I checked city and county and there good with them). F & W doesn't care about zoning, farm, residential, etc. He said to just make sure I'm good locally and a housing authority(closed community) if it applies.

4) He told me that if they came from outside of KY, I must get a vet check, which I don't mind doing.

5) I can legally trap them in ky during the season if I have the permit and get a trapping license.

6) I do have to get a cage built before I apply and meet my local F & W officer at my home for an inspection to make sure I qualify and have the proper caging, food, water supply, cleanliness, Etc, Etc.

I think all this sounds like a little trouble, but isn't too bad. I don't mind letting them inspect my home, as all my animals are kept in a clean and safe manor and legally anyways.

Soo, all in all, I am considering doing this once I get some more research done. I definately don't want a minimum required cage size, because they do change the requirements from time to time and I wouldn't want to build a larger cage on demand and it's nice to give them more space then less since they are such active animals.


Any other advice or information anyone has?

Thanks,

Jacob

Permitting and inspections really aren't that bad. I just had FWP out here to inspect for my falconry license and the guy was really nice. Just have all your ducks in a row and you're golden.

Have fun. I raised a litter of southern flyers once and they were tons of fun.

I know that I would pass an inspection, but I've never had the need to be permitted for anything. Everything I've kept, has either been 100% legal in Kyeithout permits or kept them in Oh at my families place that almost anything went at that time, but no longer. I have to check into the USDA, though, because I wil probably need to be licensed thru them if I breed them for commercial reasons, but they wont be involved if I decide to keep them for personal pets and don't sell or display them.

I'm definately considering them, but they are a big committment and cost. I have a fairly large collection of reptiles that I keep already and have to consider my available time, money, etc. I have a very strong desire to work with them for reasons I've already stated. They apear very smart and I would imagine they are fairly simple to work with under the proper housing. I'm thinking a large walk in cage, both indoor and another outdoors for the summertime.

Jacob